Maps #34: Geocoding and Geocaching

1. The geocache I decided to look for is called "Thanks a Million" which I think is closest to where I live. It appears to be in the George Bush Park. Here are the coordiantes: N 29° 44.550 W 095° 43.494

2. Here is the url for the geocache: http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?guid=5d485d63-9fdb-4b3c-8674-9e64ebeb5bf0

3. I think going on a search for a geocache would be lots of fun but I don't want to do it in the summer heat. Perhaps I could try to find this geocache when it is cooler this fall. Two summers ago my husband took my 14 year old cousin out on their bikes to look for a geocache. It was really too hot for them to go out into the woods on a treasure hunt. They came back very hot, tired & sweaty. Some of the other dangers besides the heat might be insects, snakes, and wild animals.

Maps #33: Relocating with Online Maps

Activity #1: I looked for an apartment that my daughter could possibly move into. I know she would like the Rice Village area and she eventually would like to have a dog. I was able to limit my search on Apartments.com to that area, one bedroom, a/c, washer & dryer, internet connection, and small dogs within a certain price range. I found a couple that looked good and I was able to save them to my favorites. I prefer the regular map to the satellite or hybrid. I'm just used to them and can visualize my route better. Next step: pack her bags!

Activity#2: Since we are moving after we retire, we already have a new location in mind. I tried Discover Our Town.com first but the list of cities didn't include Marble Falls. The closest I could get was Austin. So I tried WalkScore.com. When I put in our street address it didn't work, but when I just entered "Marble Falls" it came up with a really nice map with cute little icons indicating restaurants, schools, shopping, pharmacies, and the library. On the left hand side is a column that lists the businesses and how far they are from the center of town. If it had been able to locate our house, I guess the distances would have been from our house. Anyway, I was able to get an idea of the local businesses in the neighborhood where we'll be moving.

Map #32 Current Events

My girlfriend who lives in Detroit and I are always trying to find a place to meet. In Activity #1 I used Messoman - Meet in the Middle to find the midpoint between Detroit and Austin. Much to my surprise and delight, it is just north of the Arkansas/Illionis border, close to Carbondale, Illinois, where my cousins live. So I must get busy and plan a trip. I tried to insert the map here, but I couldn't do it.


Activity #2 I looked at the Global Incident Map and found that there is an Anthrax threat in Austin. To learn more you have to log in. I tried to create an account and found out it would cost $99. So that was the extent of my learning about the antrhax threat. Here is the map of all the global threats:


http://globalincidentmap.com/map.php

Maps 31: Have Map will Travel

<http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?hl=en&ie=UTF8&msa=0&msid=107579897692650148068.000449c10d6df1d295846&ll=30.59926,-98.258991&spn=0.001076,0.001808&z=19>

Here is a map to our future retirment home. Everyone is welcome to come visit!

If you check the upper lefthand pane, scroll down and you will see 2 other maps I made of libraries in the Katy area. I hand these out to patrons. Cool!

Spring Cleaning: Organizing

I may not be good at technology, but I am well known for being organized. I clean out my email regularly, and if there is something that needs attention I do it as soon as possible. Keeping my desk uncluttered is a priority too. I've been known to throw out questionable food items from the refrigerator which has gotten me in hot water at times. The philosophy of GTD is one to which I already adhere. I couldn't get anything done without my calendars, so it was a good experience for me to create on online Google calendar. I've been after other staff members to clean and unclutter their areas (I won't mention any names) so I'm very happy this lesson is required.

Week 10 #23: The End

My favorite discovery is Flickr. I love posting pictures that my friends and family can view. If I can ever get Overdrive to work for me, I will enjoy listening to audiobooks. I plan to bring my new laptop up to the library to have the "experts" help me! YouTube is fun to watch and I really enjoyed the movies Beth supplied each week. To be honest the other exercises were fun to learn and quick to be forgotten. I don't have much use for any of the other high-tech stuff like bloglines, wikis, & podcasts. I understand it is the way of the future, but I will take what I like (Flickr) and get by without the others. What did surprise me is that I could learn most of the lessons without too much assistance. So, I have discovered not to be afraid of technology and give it a chance. I have more confidence in myself as far as my abilities go.

Week 9 Post 22: Overdrive

I was able to successfully check out an audiobook, download it, and listen to it when I took the training some time ago. However, when I went home and tried to do it on my home computer I couldn't get it to work. I did download the Overdrive software to my computer and I still see it there every day, but I get an error message when I try to use it. Even my husband, a software developer and my personal network services technician, could not get it to work. It's a great idea - I love listening to audiobooks. I was excited about checking out audios from home at any time so I was disappointed I couldn't get it to work. Are there any volunteers to come out to my house and see what I am doing wrong?